10 Most Shocking WWE WrestleMania Role Reversals

4. Chris Benoit - WrestleMania XIX & XX

Chris Benoit Wm Xix Wmxx
WWE

Chris Benoit was allegedly ready to go should Kurt Angle not have been able to main event WrestleMania XIX against Brock Lesnar with a broken freakin' neck, but the former Olympian's frightening and self-destructive drive relegated 'The Rabid Wolverine' to a rushed triple threat for the Tag Team Titles in 2003's underrated edition of the 'Show Of Shows'.

The World's Greatest Tag Team/Los Guerreros/Benoit & Rhyno clash reads like a spiritual sequel to one of the prior year's "SmackDown Six" classics. At just 8:48, it felt a fair way short.

Benoit had run Kurt painfully close at that year's Royal Rumble and earned a standing ovation for his efforts in the process. It was by then finally apparent to Vince McMahon just how willing his audiences were to receive the former WCW "vanilla midget" as WWE's top guy, but it took the following year's 30-man match to set the wheels in motion for an enormous WrestleMania XX title win.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett